He was here again.
She could feel him the moment she stepped into the club and walked towards the center stage. She didn't have to search for him before knowing where he was. All she had to do was turn in the direction of the force pulling her body towards itself.
Her body burned at his presence just as it did the first time she saw him a week ago. She risked a glance and just as she hoped, he was staring at her, his blue eyes focused on her with an intensity that sent shivers through her.
What was it with this man that he affected her so much?
She blinked and moved on, hoping to flick away the spell he had on her. She ignored the low heat curling in her belly and groaned out in exasperation.
No, Lottie. You shouldn't do this. She reminded herself. She shouldn't let herself get obsessed with a man.
In her line of work, she had seen and dealed with a lot of men, and her experiences with them hadn't been fantastic. She reminded herself that he was a man just like the rest of them and the best thing for her would be to ignore him.
Men had brought nothing to her but sorrow.
Moreover, any man that visited Shades of Sin, the club where she worked, wasn't someone who should be trusted.
The music started and that was her cue to get on stage. The patrons of the club roared their admiration and she blushed, feeling their praise wash over her. Yes, this was her life. This was her show and her power. With a few moves, a few sultry looks and the right sway of her hips, she could turn these powerful and wealthy men into raving idiots.
She relished in her control and focused on that.
She turned her attention away the man sitting in a far corner at the club dressed in a grey suit and doing funny flips to her belly.
"Lottie." Someone screamed in the crowd as she jiggled her ass and held on to the pole.
She smiled as she trailed lines on the pole, her neck arched as if she was awaiting the kisses of a lover. She imagined her mystery stalker trailing kisses down her neck and moaned, grateful that the music was loud enough to cover her slip.
She wrapped her hand firmly on the pole and curled her legs around it. She imagined it to be his firm, trim, slender frame and blushed at the vivid images blowing up her mind as she slid up the pole, dancing erotically on it like she was riding a dick.
She went red, heat flushing over her body and wondered when the seasons changed. It had to be that or someone had tampered with the air conditioners in the club. She didn't think she felt as she did because she was reacting to the presence of a man. It had to be heat.
She was Lottie and she never reacted to the presence of a man no matter how attractive they were. She had watched her father beat up her mother and fuck her afterward. She had watched men in the club move from one girl to the other and couldn't help the distaste that lodged in her throat at their actions.
She might be a stripper at a club but she was a sucker for relationships and loyalty. No one would believe that she was a virgin and she always pretended like she was a professional in bed. She hated what she did at times but it was the only job that paid more than the regular jobs and she needed the money.
What was a little skin—maybe a lot of skin—and some few moves that she couldn't do to make money?
She had watched how men treated women as if they didn't matter and vowed that she wasn't letting herself be that woman a man would treat as trash. She had found how to make that decision work.
One: Never fall in love.
Two: Never get attracted to a man.
Three: Never get tempted into having sex with a man.
She hadn't started working at the club despite the fat salary until she was convinced that all she would have to do was dance and not pimp herself out to the men.
She had been doing well until him. She couldn't figure out what it was about him that made her body forget all her rules and how good it had been doing so far.
She had seen a whole lot of handsome guys so she couldn't say it was because he was hot. Most of the men who frequented the club were CEOs and men of high ranks so she couldn't say it was the money. Men looked at her all night and feasted their gazes on her while wishing they had their hands all over her and she never reacted to them.
It had all been business—dance, get them hot, move out, get paid and repeat the cycle—until now.
Why did his gaze turn her crazy with need and make her ache all over?
The music stopped and she gasped, breathing in relief that the torture was finally over. She didn't want to stay a second on the stage more than she had to. She hadn't glanced at him all through the twenty minutes that she danced but she felt his gaze on her. It had been unblinking and brutally focused, and didn't help the naughty imaginations in her head.
She unwrapped her leg from the pole, noticing how her legs were shaking which was something that had never happened and bowed to her audience. They cheered and she made her way off the stage.
She couldn't help herself and glanced in his direction, wondering if he was still around.
He was and his gaze was intent like he wanted to mark her. He stared at her as if he knew exactly what she had done, as if he knew she had danced for him, as if he knew how she was throbbing for him, as if he knew she wondered what it would feel like to have sex, what it would feel like to have sex with him thrusting into her and making her scream wild with passion.
His lips curled with a slow grin, a wicked grin that promised her damnation and pleasure at the same time between the sheets.
With a groan, she tore her gaze away from him before he melted her down completely.
"That was some crazy moves out here, Lottie." Eric, the manager, smiled at her as she made her way to the changing room.
"Thanks." She muttered weakly, hoping her weak legs would get her through the distance without giving up on her.
Eric stared at her, his eyes glistening with pride. "You've always been a good dancer, able to drive the men crazy but I don't think I've ever seen you dance as sensual as you did this night."
She groaned, ashamed of herself for losing control. She couldn't believe she had actually danced wantonly when she had thought she had been in control of her emotions.
He narrowed his eyes at her and moved closer. "Tell me the truth. What is the secret of tonight's exceptional moves?"
A new patron at the club who brought out all her dark sexual fantasies.
She would be damned if she told Eric that.
"Nothing." She said, shaking her head. "I guess I liked the music tonight and my body moved without thinking."
He chuckled. "Oooh. I don't think your body moved without thinking. I think it knows exactly what it needs."
Don't say it. She mentally screamed at him in her head, knowing what he was about to say.
He leaned closer. "I know when someone just had sex or needs it. Which is it, Lottie?"
None.
She let out a relieved sigh when she got to the entrance of the changing room and slipped inside without hesitation, grateful that the club didn't have a female manager.
None. She repeated to herself, as if to remind herself. She kept saying the word over and over in her head. She wasn't going to sleep with anyone.